Phoenix’s resident local legend Chef Silvana Salcido Esparza continues her streak of helming successful Mexican restaurants at Barrio Urbano in North-Central Phoenix. Here, breakfast, lunch, and dinner dishes are treated with bold, regional Mexican culinary technique that is synonymous with Esparza. Breakfast is characterized its savory-leaning plates -- try the Barrio Revueltos, an egg-white scramble with sautéed spinach, onion, Schreiner’s longaniza sausage, and toast -- but you can also get your sweet fill without the caloric guilt by ordering freshly cut fruit of the day served over cottage cheese and topped with local honey, raw sunflower seeds, golden raisins, pecans, and house-made granola. The nighttime menu offers a dizzying array of enchiladas, quesadillas, and burritos with kaleidoscopic combinations of braised meats, salsas, and cheeses, which become seemingly more dizzying after a couple of bourbon Pretty Pablos (whiskey sours) or Jack Swillins (gimlets). The restaurant’s motto is “Conserve water, drink tequila,” which should give you a pretty good indication of the depth and breadth of the cocktail program.

Barrio Urbano

Phoenix’s resident local legend Chef Silvana Salcido Esparza continues her streak of helming successful Mexican restaurants at Barrio Urbano in North-Central Phoenix. Here, breakfast, lunch, and dinner dishes are treated with bold, regional Mexican culinary technique that is synonymous with Esparza. Breakfast is characterized its savory-leaning plates -- try the Barrio Revueltos, an egg-white scramble with sautéed spinach, onion, Schreiner’s longaniza sausage, and toast -- but you can also get your sweet fill without the caloric guilt by ordering freshly cut fruit of the day served over cottage cheese and topped with local honey, raw sunflower seeds, golden raisins, pecans, and house-made granola. The nighttime menu offers a dizzying array of enchiladas, quesadillas, and burritos with kaleidoscopic combinations of braised meats, salsas, and cheeses, which become seemingly more dizzying after a couple of bourbon Pretty Pablos (whiskey sours) or Jack Swillins (gimlets). The restaurant’s motto is “Conserve water, drink tequila,” which should give you a pretty good indication of the depth and breadth of the cocktail program.